Eurosphere agenda: “Ukraine’s point of no return…”2014: Europe’s year of decision

The Euromaidan activists continue to protest throughout Ukraine, despite considerable pressure from the authorities. A young journalist was recently beaten within an inch of her life, cars are set alight and there have been many other acts of provocation. But the protesters are resolved not to yield, reports Iryna Solomko

Following the worldwide trend of sharing portrays and stories of humans from all corners of the world, inspired by the work started by Brandon Stanton in 2010 with Humans of New York (HONY), Portugal also has a share of its people from several cities around the country represented on different collections on Facebook.

Ireland has now left the clutches of the bailout-for-austerity framework created by the Troika (the European Commission, the ECB, and the IMF) for indebted eurozone countries. But the the monetary union’s other distressed countries cannot replicate Ireland’s success – nor should they want to.

Editor’s note: Daniel Kovzhun is a Ukrainian Boing Boing reader who has been present through the turmoil in Kiev over the ruling party’s plan to sign a Customs Union agreement with Russia. In this piece, Daniel provides a first-hand account of the terminally corrupt political scene that put over a million people into the streets of Kiev, the brutal police violence that ensued, and the ineffective, fragmented opposition coalition that is meant to be at the head of the uprising.

The euro crisis continues, the Syria crisis remains unresolved, and the citizens of Eastern Europe are taking to the streets and discovering a new sense of self-assurance. Commentators look back on a turbulent year and see Vladimir Putin, Edward Snowden and Pope Francis as the people who left their mark on 2013.

The conflict in Ukraine is part of a wider tussle over eastern Europe’s political orientation. The European Union remains pivotal to progress, says Krzysztof Bobinski.

In the good old cold-war days when divisions in Europe were clearer, popular upheavals in Soviet-run eastern Europe were met with a measure of consternation in western capitals and some sympathy among western populations. At that time, everyone knew that freedom was at stake – and also that the demand for freedom couldn’t be fulfilled.

The OECD’s test score rankings of 15-year-olds around the globe came out Tuesday, and, as usual a familiar set of faces tops the charts. Shanghai (which, as many have pointed out, is not a country), Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, Korea, and Japan continue to dominate in math. Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to stagnate and declinists continue to fret.

Three and one-half years ago the infamous Troika (IMF, European Commission and the European Central Bank, with the German government in close attendance) began its unsuccessful attempt to contain the crisis of the Eurozone, with a draconian austerity program for Greece. Subsequently, the Troika would add Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain to its list for the austerity medicine. At the end of 2013, what has austerity achieved?

Global security – a safe and peaceful environment free of conflict – is a public good: all of the world’s citizens and countries benefit from it, regardless of whether they contribute to supplying it. But, when it comes to global stability, the world simply cannot afford a free-riding Europe.

This report analyses key societal challenges for the EU until 2030 by exploring the evidence base and uncertainties underpinning global trends — in areas such as migration, employment, inequality or empowerment — and their impact on the EU.